Local sports briefs: Fresno City finishes off baseball series sweep; Monsters advance in playoffs

Scott Silva extended his hitting steak to 10 games, going 4 for 5 with a triple, driving in two runs and scoring two as Fresno City beat Porterville 8-1 on Saturday for a Central Valley Conference series sweep.

Brandon Acosta (1-0) fueled the Rams (16-3, 11-1) to a solid start on the mound, giving up two hits and two walks in a scoreless five innings of work.

The Rams pounded the Pirates (3-16, 0-9) for 15 hits and jumped to a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning, when Christian Funk’s RBI triple with one out ignited a three-run rally.

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Porterville ended the shutout in the seventh on Joseph Gaytan’s bases-loaded RBI single off reliever Shane Desmond.

Fresno won its fourth game in a row and maintains a two-game conference lead on Merced (14-7, 9-3). The two teams clash for the first time this season at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Blue Devil Diamond.

• Merced beat West Hills 10-5. Bruce Mau had a two-run double and McKay Glines hit 2 for 4 with a double to lead the Falcons (4-15, 1-8). Braxton Lorenzini (0-4) allowed seven runs (one earned) on seven hits in five innings. The Blue Devils’ Nate McGhee (3-1) struck out five and gave up four runs on five hits in 62/3 innings.

• Sequoias rallied for three runs in the seventh to beat visiting Taft 5-3 for the series sweep. Down 3-2 but with the bases loaded, the Giants’ tied it on Matt Cota’s single and went ahead on Blake Edmonson’s two-run base hit.

Monsters’ coach collects 200th win in playoff sweep

Mike Nolan had two goals and an assist as the Fresno Monsters beat San Diego 12-1, giving coach Bryce Dale his 200th win behind the Monsters bench and completing a best-of-three series sweep that sends Fresno to the Western States Hockey League Western Conference finals.

Valencia led Ontario 1-0 in the other conference semifinal heading into Saturday’s Game 2.

Sunbirds’ bats go quiet as Azusa Pacific avoids sweep

Fresno Pacific was denied its first series sweep in the Pacific West Conference as Azusa Pacific took the series finale 3-0.

The Sunbirds (15-8, 6-6) were limited to two hits in seven innings by Cougars starter Wyatt Wood, who struck out 10. Azusa (17-7, 7-5) took the lead on Brian Magana’s sacrifice fly in the fourth and added single runs in the seventh and eighth.

Fresno Pacific starter Eian Raeber got the loss, giving up two runs (one earned) in six innings. Michael Tittle had a pair of hits. Preston Scott was 0 for 3 to end his 16-game hitting streak.

Fresno Pacific wins two

to close Lancer Invite

The Fresno Pacific women’s water polo team rebounded from a winless opening day in Riverside with a Saturday sweep to finish 2-2 at the Lancer Invitational.

The Sunbirds (7-15) scored three goals in the final 6 minutes to beat Division I St. Francis 7-4. Nia Apodaca scored twice in the second period to break a 2-2 tie with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Fresno Pacific’s 8-2 victory.

Barrows swims to top-10 finish at NCAA D-II meet

Cal Baptist’s Elijah Barrows(Clovis West High) finished 10th in the 1,650 free and the Lancers also grabbed a top-10 team finish as the NCAA Division II meet wrapped up in Indianapolis.